This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
We now had a light coating of fresh powder snow to match the light drizzle. At Purity Hut we waited an hour or so for our party to regroup, restocked fuel supplies in jacket pockets and donned all wet weather and snow gear possible. The seven penguins then ventured out of the fridge-like wood box called Purity Hut to face the cold wind and temperatures and falling snow. We trudged up to Wooden Peg which was marked with a me- ~|~tallic-peg-After-that;-eonditions—; worsened. It was like walking in a white-out. The ground was completely white; the sky was white and we were fast becoming white. Icicles started to form on loose strands of hair; eyebrows were getting an ice coating, and jackets were develop-
Andrew Devlin
ing an icy veneer. (Watch out for Jo’s photo of Harry with his ice beard and ice hair! It really was quite an impressive sight.) The thought of at least two more hours in these conditions, unable to see much more than ten metres in front of us, encouraged us to change our planned route and head down to the Medium’s destination. So, like fighter planes, we peeled off from the tops and headed down the ridge line. Lunch was a standing five minute affair as it was-too..cold_to_stop_for any longer. As we had well-stocked jacket pockets, we were able to tramp until 2pm before we felt a need for something more than snacks. ) Kelly Knight Hut, located in a pleasant, bushy valley, was warm and inviting when we - reached it mid-afternoon. It was full of Mediums who had a good fire going. It was so nice to arrive at a hut which was warm, in winter. We appreciated this occurrence, which isnot the norm. I suppose it wasn’t too surprising, given the weather conditions, to find the Mediums in their pits, even though it was only 3.30pm.
At least we were out of the snow, most of the wind, and all of the white-out conditions. A hot brew, especially for the tea drinkers in our midst who seemed to be growing in numbers, and a warm hut soon made us forget about the cold conditions experienced on the tops a couple of hours before.
Sunday morning saw us and the Mediums amble out along the track and reach the Duchess two hours later. The walk out was nowhere near as ‘interesting’ as the walk we did the previous day. The weather was no better, so the tops would have been just as unaccommodating.
When the Easys arrived we tootled off back to Wellington. Special mention must be made for the Duchess’ supreme ‘achievement in overtaking two consecutive cars along the Foxton Straights.
The six other icicles on this trip were: Jo (leader), Harry, Dave (driver), Allen, Sue and Jimmy.
his is the first of a series of articles to keep you informed of what’s happening down in sunny Nelson. Since March, when I last saw most of you; I have done the following:
I moved into a two-bedroom house (I rent this on my own), which is close to the city centre and is the address printed in the latest membership list. Anybody is more than welcome to stay as there is a spare room for visitors. it has a large cottage garden and I am saving $10 a week by taking care of it. It is another activity that I am enjoying. I have not looked after a garden since I was a teenager. I have fresh grapes, lemons and tree-tomatoes to eat. —_-have-been..preparing-the-old— vegetable garden for fresh produce, come Spring and Summer. As a result, I have not been out into the hills much, including the mountain bike. I am actually enjoying not doing so, believe it or not, but I still go on trips. I get out with the Nelson Tramping
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